Tennessee Williams

Born March 26, 1911

One of the greatest twentieth century playwrights, Tennessee Williams attended Soldan and University City high schools, and Washington University, before graduating from the University of Iowa. His plays explore what he called "the unlighted sides" of human nature with great insight. He won Pulitzer Prizes for Streetcar Named Desire and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Those works, along with Glass Menagerie and Night of the Iguana, also won New York Drama Critics Circle Awards. Williams wrote nearly thirty full-length plays, two novels, and a number of short stories and plays.

The Characters of Tennessee Williams

Tennessee was obsessed with the outsider, the man or woman who because he or she is different stands outside of the accepted circle of society. The outsider carries this stigma because of his ability to see the world clearlythat is see the true horror of the reality of life. The outsider character, called "the fugitive" by Tennessee, is never at home in the world, and thus is usually always 'on the run.' This fugitive kind character usually falls in one or more of the following character types.

1. the artist-this can actually be an artist who creates or someone with artistic or sensitive personality traits (Vee in Sweet Bird)

2. the insane-usually the character goes insane as a method of coping with the horrors of reality (Blanche in Streetcar, Catherine and Violet in Suddenly Last Summer, Shannon in Night of the Iguana)

3. the cripple-sometimes the "defect" is a physical injury or illness; it can cause the character to gain the 'clearer vision' or result because the character is able to see the reality of the ugliness and meanness of life (Laura in Glass, Alma in Summer and Smoke)

4. the foreigner-this can represent an outsider who is a foreigner to the "inside" community or an ethnic foreigner who stands apart from the dominant group because of racial identity or cultural and philosophical perspective (Rosa Gonzales in Summer and Smoke)

5. the other-many of Tennessee's "fugitive kind" characters face other issues which separate them from the "in crowd" - a common issue is the sexual deviant, like Blanche's past of indiscreet sexual behavior (Streetcar), Tom's suspected sexual misbehavior (Glass Menagerie), incest in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, or Val's hinted male prostitution (Sweet Bird of Youth)

Many of the characters to whom Tennessee felt empathy or sympathy are a combination of different types. Basically, the self-knowledge which they possess separates from them insiders. (The insiders are protected by insensitivity or ignorance or because they have a strong sense of identity with the dominant group or societal mores. Thus, the insider is not aware of the horrible terrors that surround him in the world.)

Stylistically, Tennessee used nonrealistic techniques to tell the truth about his characters-both insiders and outsiders. He wanted to expose the facades behind which the ugly truths thrived (similar to Ibsen's realistic problem-play).

Nonrealistic techniques include:

1. mythical identities: names, allusions, etc.(Val Xavier of savior in Orpheus Descending)

2. symbols-both verbal and visual (the streetcar in Streetcar, birds, etc.)

3. caricatures-characters are exaggerated to extremes, sometimes comic extremes (Blanche in Streetcar, Alma in Summer, Shannon in Iguana)

4. theatrical devices: lights, music, stage directions, etc. (memory technique in Glass, focus of lights in Streetcar, placement of actors in Night)